As I’ve mentioned before (maybe too many times now), shortly after Biggie’s Life After Death was released, I was completely out of the secular hip-hop loop for the next four years. During my break, I missed a lot of music. And there were also some catalogs and movements that I completely missed. Jurassic 5 was one of them.

Jurassic 5, ironically, was a six-man crew out of Los Angeles: Chali 2na, Akil, Soup, also known as Zaakir, and Marc 7 were the group’s emcees, while DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist served as the group’s DJs and producers. The group name came from the mother of one of Chali 2na’s friends after he played one of their early records for her. She jokingly told Chali, “You guys think you sound like the Fantastic Five (as in the early eighties rap group, Grandmaster Theodore & The Fantastic Five), but you sound more like the Jurassic 5.” Bad joke, but the name stuck. Between 1998 and 2006, J5 released four albums, a slew of singles, and gained a cult underground following. But before all of that, they would kick things off with the Jurassic 5 EP.

Jurassic 5 EP was originally released as a nine-track project on the group’s independent label, Rumble Records, on October 13, 1997. It created a buzz and received positive reviews from a few reputable media outlets, which would eventually lead the major labels to knock on the group’s proverbial door. They signed a deal with Interscope in 1999, under which they would release their last three albums (Quality Control, Power In Numbers, and Feedback), but their first line of business with Interscope would be a re-release of their debut EP. The re-release would maintain the same track listing as the original, minus the final track, “Blacktop Beat.”

Through the years, I’ve found and purchased used copies of all of Jurassic 5’s albums, but have never gotten around to listening to them. Now, I officially begin my journey through their musical catalog. Hopefully, the music doesn’t sound as prehistoric as the group name.

In The Flesh – All four Jurassic emcees get off a censored verse (I’m sure the curseless edit was due to a sample-clearance agreement) over rugged boom-bap drums and a slick bluesy guitar loop. The hook and the elaborate bridge, chanted in unison, conjure up the spirit of the Cold Crush Brothers, giving the track a refreshing old-school feel. I like this one. I do have one question, though: Who is the fifth fleshly emcee that they mention on the hook?

Quality Control Part II – Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark use an odd and obscure soundbite to speak on behalf of J5’s quality control process when creating albums. This was cute.

Jayou – Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark unleash the “Get Up, Stand Up” flutes on ‘em while the other Js “conjugate verbs and constipate nerds” with interactive rhymes and another intricate hook and bridge (rest in peace to the blonde baddie, Anna Nicole Smith). So far, we’re two for two.

Lesson 6: The Lecture – Cut Chemist throws everything, including the kitchen sink, into this five-minute-plus musical collage. The foundation is built around a hipster jazz piano loop and cool drums, but it takes several twists and turns along the way. It incorporates snippets of a man referencing the periodic table and chemical mixes, scratches, oddball soundbites (“Do you think that Led Zeppelin and Frank Sinatra would go together?”), exotic flutes, animated basslines, a few dope drum solos, a B-boy break, and four or five tempo changes. But no matter where it goes, it always works its way back home to the cool cat jazz piano loop it started with. I’m not usually crazy about this type of record, but this was really dope. It would have been perfect for DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing.

Concrete Schoolyard – Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark transform a gritty, southern-fried Ike Turner piano riff into a soulful groove for 2na, Akil, Soup, and Marc 7 to rock upon. The rhymes were cool (2na’s reference to Yul Brynner as Pharaoh in The Ten Commandments was pretty clever), but the instrumental was absolutely scrumptious.

Setup – Another soundbite interlude (it sounds like it came from the same source as “Quality Control Part II”), placed over soothing elevator music.

Action Satisfaction – Vocally, J5 continues to do what they’ve done on the other three songs: team rhymes and four-part harmony (by the way, I’m sure no one has ever mistaken Jurassic 5 for the Jackson 5). I like the dark grey, grimy feel of the track, and the Fonzarelli-cool bassline makes me want to get my pimp strut on.

Sausage Gut – My copy of the EP is the 1999 Interscope re-release. It ends with some guy making a phone call and spewing all kinds of randomness. It must be an inside joke, and since I’m outside, I didn’t find it funny. (The original release follows with “Blacktop Beat,” a mildly funky minute-and-a-half instrumental piece).

During the “Intermission” after “Can It Be All So Simple” on Wu-Tang’s classic debut album, 36 Chambers, Method Man tells the interviewer, in reference to his Clan, “We form like Voltron.” Voltron was an eighties cartoon about five space explorers who pilot five robotic lions (Black Lion (head and torso), Red Lion (right arm), Green Lion (left arm), Blue Lion (right leg), and Yellow Lion (left leg)) who combine and form the giant robot Voltron, who defends the universe against evil forces. I’m a Wu-Tang Clan fan (and I was a fan of Voltron back in the day), but I never liked the Wu-Tang-Voltron comparison. The Wu were nine (depending on who you ask, ten) individuals who rarely all rapped on the same track. Instead, you’d hear a few of them together on a record, spitting their own verses, glued together by a hook. They’re a legendary collective who’ve made a lot of dope records, but they’ve always felt and sounded like nine (or ten) individuals, never a whole. The Voltron comparison would be better suited for a group like Jurassic 5.

On their debut EP, J5’s “fossilized flavor” is on full display as they pay homage to the early eighties Fantastic Five/Cold Crush Brothers era with an updated version of their own interactive rhymes, detailed hooks, and unified harmony routines. From “In The Flesh” to “Action Satisfaction,” Chali 2na’s deep baritone and lyrical prowess make him the obvious standout of the crew’s four emcees. But thanks to the way J5 structures their songs, Chali’s individual skill set never sounds greater than the whole. Musically, DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist provide the EP with a production bed reminiscent of nineties New York boom bap, only with less grime and a touch of nerdiness. The quirky interludes help paste the tracks together, and “The Lesson 6: The Lecture” is a highlight that serves as the EP’s incredible centerpiece.

I enjoyed the Jurassic 5 EP. It’s a nice introduction to the group via a few groovy tunes. But it did leave me curious about how their prehistoric unity would translate over a full-length project. Thankfully, I don’t have to wait 145 million years to find out (*rimshot*).

-Deedub
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